From Marrakech the road climbs through steep wooded hills besides the river  to emerge 90 km later into the high valley of the Nfiss. it is one of  the most hauntingly beautiful places in Morocco, an archetypal vision of  a secret valley surrounded by jagged horizon of snow-capped mountains.  flowing through this upper valley is the river Nfiss: found in gentle  aspect, a stream of slow-moving, cool, clear water full of darting  trout, with orchards, terraced gardens and hillside hamlets lining its  bank.

The Tizi N'Test: the road that extends beyond Marrakech to Taroudant and  Taliouine - it's unbelievably impressive. cutting right through the  heart of the Atlas, it was blasted out from the mountains by the French  in 10 November 1928 - the first modern route lo link Marrakech with the  souss plain and the desert and an extraordinary feat of pioneer-spirit  engineering. Until then it had been considered impracticable without  local protection and knowledge: an important pass for trade and for the  control and subjugation of the south, but one of that few sultans were  able to make their own. Through much of the last century it was the  personal fief of the goundafi family, whose huge Kasbah still dominate  many of the crags and strategic turns along the way. Much farther into  the past it had served as the refuge and power-base of the Almohads, and  it was from the holy city of Tin Mal, up towards the col that they  launched their attack on the Almoravid dynasty. The Col du Tizi n'Test,  2,100m in height, stands 43km beyond Berber Homestay. There's a  cafe-restaurant just south of the pass. Walk back along the road a  kilometre Frome here and you will find a track leading straight up to  the col towards a platform mounted by a TV relay station. The views down  to the Souss valley and back towards Toubkal can be stunning .